INTERVIEW: High Fructose Zombies

Without a doubt my favorite part of any Comic-Con, be it New York, San Diego, or the Vahalla Comic-Con that waits for me after I transcend the 34th Death Level, are the independent titles that pop up in the wake of its more Marvelous and Detective Comically forerunners. One such indy title, bursting at the seams with production value and trendy Skrillexian (or Skrillex-esque if you prefer) hair-dos is High Fructose Zombies.

Writer David Phillips, with artist Sarah Braly, tackles the platinum-trifecta of problems in American values today: obesity, zombies, and boredom in a most bad-ass of six-color formats. I could just post the banter-happy audio of my interview with this duo, but nobody likes to listen to audio online —nobody. So, would you kindly enjoy this transcript?

AP2HYC: Stop right there. Okay, I’m here with David and Sarah of High Fructose Zombies. So, tell me the story behind High Fructose Zombies.

GUY: I would love to. So when a brand-new-candy bar called Snack Attack (holds up 1:1 replica Snack Attack bar, which is actually just a repainted Hersey’s, but shhh!) starts turning people into zombies in the small, humble town of Sweet Tooth, it is up to Clea Brown and her rag-tag group of friends to stop the evil Yumzie Corporation from reigning down the sugar-pocalypse.

SB: And she uses her giant lollipop to decapitate and otherwise thwart the zombie hordes.

DP: Sarah [Braly] is the artist, and I am the writer

AP2HYC: And who are you?

DP: My name is David Phillips.

AP2HYC: Awesome! Now are these the slow-moving zombies or the fast-moving zombies, or something we have not seen before?

SB: It’s funny you should ask. For the first few issues they are the regular slow-moving zombies, but as we get further through, different candies cause different zombies to react differently.

AP2HYC: Character growth for someone who is already dead, I’ve never seen that before.

SB: Exactly!

DP: You’re welcome. [boisterous laughter enjoyed by all]

AP2HYC: How many issues do you have out so far?

DP: We have…

SB: Four issues!

DP: Four issues.

SB: Of a six-issue arc, that will be wrapping up in February, 2014.

AP2HYC: That is so bad-ass! So final question, what’s your favorite zombie thing?

DP: Aside from our own? [laughs; seriously, these guys are awesome. You have no idea.]

DP: (pondering, to Sarah) What would you say?

SB: Well Shaun of the Dead is definitely a lot of fun, I… I like the Dawn of the Dead remake, gonna be totally honest there. It was awesome.

DP: Zack Snyder, you did very well on that one

SB: Yes! [laughs take over the table] Thumbs up!

AP2HYC: And your favorite high-fructose treat?

SB: I ate some candy corn yesterday.

CD: Candy corn is pretty dope.

SB: I regret it, but it was awesome.

DP: She’s still on a sugar high. [Laughs. Seriously. These guys were awesome.]

Just like any sugar high, my interview with the team behind High Fructose Zombies was over just as soon as I was starting to feel it. But don’t fret, my zombie fiends. I’ll have your High Fructose fix for you in no time, reviewing the first four issues of the boredom-rotting candy-skull-crushing High Fructose Zombies in as much time as it takes for you to reject a game invite on Facebook.